cruelkix
Well-Known Member
Trying to sketch up a quick hopper for my grain mill. Does anyone have a good guess as to how many lbs of grain you get per sq ft??
Thanks!!
Thanks!!
This doesn't answer your question, but I used a scratched better bottle with the bottom cut out fo rmy hopper. I can fit around 40 lbs of grain in the 6 gallon carboy. If in doubt, go bigger.
I just got a Crankandstein 2D
Ahh but it kinda does answer my question. Thank you! And I meant to say cubic feet. Not square feet.
6 gallon carboy = .802 cubic ft. (1 gallon of water = 0.13368 cu ft. @ STP)
40lbs / .802 = 49.9 lbs / cubic ft. (this is an apporximation but will work well enough)
Thanks!!
Nice mill... I have a Barley Crusher with the 7# hopper... I might extend it at some point in the future... I wouldn't go much higher than 10-15# for a hopper though, unless you plan on making it more wide than tall. Or unless you plan on making it a more perm. mounting (where the mill and hopper sit, with the bucket to catch the grain)... I just wouldn't want to make it too top heavy and have it spill grain all over the place...
Thanks for the advise. This mill station is going to be a bit of a tank. I want to hold a 50lb bag of grain. I'm stepping up to 1.5 BBL batches. So it will be a stand alone station with a rather large trash can under it to catch all the stuff. I'm going to have it fully enclosed to keep the dust in. I have the motor and pulleys set up. I'll get pics for ya when I get closer to done.
Sounds pretty sick, in a great way... :rockin:
You planning on using one of the dust collectors like you seen in wood working shops? You might want to have that to collect airborne dust, to keep things cleaner (around the rest of your brewing area)...
I dream of the day I'm brewing batches that size...
How many pallets of grain are you planning to blow through in a month?
Ummmm, a pallet holds 42 sacks of grain (55# each typically)... So, at 55#/sack, and 90#/batch... Makes about 6-1/2 sacks a week (4 batches a week), so you'll go through a pallet of grain about every 6-1/2 weeks... That's of base malt, not counting anything else you're putting in there.
At that rate, you'll use 336 sacks of grain a year (18,480# of grain)... Roughly at least... Order a 6 months worth of grain at a shot... Bet the supplier would love to have that order come across his desk. :rockin:
ScubaSteve, what are you brewing that needs 40# of grain?? Are you doing a couple of 10 gallon batches in a weekend? I know we used 26.5# of grain for our 10 gallon batch (OG of 1.065)...
You probably want to fix that link too...
I was thinking more around 55# will go into a 10-11 gallon pail. Aren't most people splitting a 55# sack into 2 homer or 5 gallon buckets? I have trouble fitting some sacks into my 11 gallon pails if they are a plumper variety. My last 10 gallon batch of 1.097 RIS was just shy of a 40# malt bill, so big hoppers are nice on occasion especially if you're doing 45 gallon batches...
I hope you're going for a decent mill with bearings over bushings or sleeves as my Valley mill gets a workout on a big malt bill and I'm sure it'd go up in smoke before long if I did too many big batches in a week. I plan on rebuilding the blocks that the shafts ride in to add bearings in the near future as the plastic and sleeves are starting to get beat up.
Is that because you lose space due to the "Plumbers crack" in the buckets??
If I was doing that many batches a week, I'd probably just get one of the mills rated for it... Instead of one built more for the hobby level.
I'm sure it will go through many sacks of grain before starting to show wear... You could be in full swing, turning a profit before you actually need (or more likely want) to replace it.
Either way, good luck with the venture... I know that I'd be stoked if I was looking at brewing as more than just a hobby.
Yeah I already have the supplier worked out so thats nice at least. He's giving me a good deal and understands that my orders will start "small" (in his terms) and have the potential to get much bigger assuming I don't crash and burn......
Since Country Malt Group has a warehouse in Aurora, CO, which you list as your location, you should be able to get good shipping, if you can't just go pick it up.
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